Elephant gores handler to death and runs off into Thai jungle with tourists on its back

Elephant rides are a popular tourist attraction in Thailand Getty Images

An elephant gored its handler to death before running off into the Thai jungle with three tourists on its back.

A family of three from China were enjoying a ride on a male elephant in northern Thailand when the animal suddenly turned on its keeper, known as a ‘mahout’, according to local police reports.

The elephant had reportedly not taken well to its new keeper.

“The mahout who was killed was Karen and he was not familiar with the elephant,” Colonel Thawatchai Thepboon, police commander of the Mae Wing district in Chiang Mai province, said according to the Guardian.

“They [the tourists] are safe now.”

The Karen are an ethnic minority in the northern part of Thailand where the attack took place.